Just Watched...

It Happened One Night
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly

Score: 4/4

This 1934 film could easily be called one of the most 'risquè' movies of the time... before the the MPAA began enforcing its production code that is.

Ellie Andrews is the stereotypical spoiled heiress who causes trouble for her loving father just because she can. Ellie marries "King" Westley, a fortune-hunter whom her father despises. Her father finds her and drags her away from her new husband before the marriage can be solidified. Ellie however escapes and runs away, determined to make it  back to her new husband in New York City.

Ellie meets Peter Warne at the bus station, Peter is a newspaper reporter looking for just the right story to revive his career. When he learns who Ellie is he proposes a deal:  she gives him her exclusive story and he will help her get back to New York City. If she doesn't accept than Peter will contact her father and let him know where his daughter is and collect the reward that has been put out. Low on funds and desperate for help, Ellie agrees to the arrangement.

What made this movie so controversial was the hitchhking scene. Peter can't stop a car no matter what kind of techinique he uses. Ellie however manages to stop one by pulling up her skirt and showing off her leg. The actress, Claudette Colbert, originally refused to do the part saying it was 'unladylike.' However, when director Frank Capra brought in a chorus girl to be her leg double Claudette reportedly agreed to do it, apparently if it was going to be in the
movie it would be Claudette's leg and no one else's.

This movie was funny and cute, without being slow or sticky in details. Of course it was a typical ending but Ellie pulls it off with style. The very end will make you smile with its references to "the walls of Jericho".